Vidal Sassoon: I’ll offer to trim the Queen’s corgis

Vidal Sassoon CBE, 82, is known for his ground-breaking hair styles of the 1960s, when he worked with the world’s best designers, photographers and models. As a teenager, he fought fascists in east London and was a soldier in the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict.

Vidal Sassoon (Pic: Getty)

You’re credited with ‘changing the shape of women’s heads’. Were they happy about that?

I always felt the craft needed to change. There was extraordinary architecture at the time and then you looked at fashion and it was dreary and old-fashioned, until [British fashion designer] Mary Quant came along and gave it a shot in the arm. I worked very closely with her. It was a terrific time. And it was the perfect time to be in England.

What was so special about the 1960s?

It wasn’t just fashion. Theatre was marvellous. There was a cultural revolution in every field. And, of course, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Suddenly, everything was coming out of Britain; a wild five or six years.

Were any models or actors difficult to work with?

When they came to us, they were in our hands. They trusted us, otherwise they wouldn’t have come. Peter O’Toole came to the salon. We did his hair for Lawrence Of Arabia. He just left it to us.

What’s the secret to a good haircut?

First, see the woman standing up. Then look at the bone structure, see the smile, get a sense of who the person is. Then you cut to that bone structure. Nine out of ten times that will work for them. I have had people cry and say: ‘You’ve ruined my life,’ then the following week they’ve come and said: ‘Oh, my friends loved it, I’m sorry I made a commotion.’ You’re dealing with an individual who wants to look different. There’s no other craft in the world that does what we do. That’s why it’s so exciting.

Did you enjoy meeting the Queen to receive your CBE?

Yes. She said: ‘You’ve been at this a long time, haven’t you?’ I told her: ‘Sixty-seven years,’ and she said: ‘Good lord.’ What I really wanted to say was: ‘Ma’am, you’ve been at this a long time, too.’ I thought better of it.

Did you offer to trim her corgis?

No, but I will.

Are people surprised at your violent past, breaking up fascist meetings?

A war had just gone by with 55million people dead and then suddenly you’ve got fascists walking around the streets of London with their uniforms on. A group of 43 young ex-servicemen, still in their twenties, decided they weren’t going to allow fascists to walk about the streets, whatever the police or anybody else thought about it. I volunteered. I was only 17 at the time. There were hundreds of volunteers. You got a few bruises here and there. But after what had gone on in Europe, how could you sit home and let others do it? We all had to be involved.

You fought in the controversial 1948 Arab-Israeli war, still a major factor in the Israel-Palestine conflict. Do you have any regrets?

Good God, no. I couldn’t have been more excited. You’ve got to remember a third of the [Jewish] race had been wiped out by the Nazis. And to have a country of one’s own, for security reasons alone – I loved Israel, I thought it was so special.

Many Palestinians were forced from their villages and homeland or killed. Was that wrong?

Of course. In every conflict, there are things that are not just. Let me put it this way: I cannot afford not to be a Zionist. Because who can I trust? The Nazis, who were Christians, killed so many of my people. Can I trust the Arabs? I don’t think so. The only person I can trust is myself, the Jews, and I think the Jews have to remain very strong. I am a very strong Zionist, purely for survival, because I don’t trust anybody.

Do you think peace is possible in your lifetime?

I’d love to see it. I have some great friends there. I can’t answer, as a hairdresser, what the solution is. I just know there are lovely people out there, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Druze, so many good souls.